2025 UCPath Projects
How UCSB supports UCPath Roadmap Projects
The system-wide UCPath team strives to improve and advance UCPath functionality regularly and constantly. As UC Santa Barbara's campus support team, we are here to guide you through any planned system updates, whether large or small. Check back often to learn the latest and how UCPath updates may impact your daily work.
Ongoing Projects
Below is a high-level summary of our current ongoing projects. These project descriptions offer a condensed summary of all current or recently completed UCPath Projects. Please be aware that project-specific content is subject to change. Check back periodically to learn more about any campus impact.
UCPath Center utilizes a release model, with groupings of projects scheduled to go-live simultaneously. Because of this, you will often hear about projects grouped based on their release month. There may still be projects that go-live outside of those releases, and the details can be found below next to each project.
Current Release Month: July 2025
Improve Accrual Management
Impacted Module: Absence Management
Expected Release Date: Phase 1: Monthly Releases and Nov 2025
The Improve Accruals Management project will enable the UCPath production team to calculate and display accurate accrual balances for employees who have had multiple jobs and/or changes in pay frequencies. This will also position UCPath to provide more timely processing by reducing manual efforts.
Project Breakdown:
Phase 1 Nov 2025 Improve Accrual Accuracy via Monthly Releases and a November 2025 Major Release
Phase 2 Mar 2026 - Create a Final Pay Solution with Off-Cycle Calendar automation
Phase 3 Jan 2027 - Decouple Absence Processing from Payroll
Phase 4 Mar 2028- Establish Absence Processing as an Input to Payroll
This project will also reduce/eliminate customizations, moving towards delivered functionality providing for more accurate and timely accrual balances, as well as utilizing industry best practices as they evolve.
UCPath Direct Entry (UCSB Implementation)
Impacted Module: Workforce Administration
Expected Release Date: March, 2026
What’s changing?
The Direct Entry project (formerly known as the Hire Pilot) introduces a new and improved way for locations to enter new hires—Employees, Contingent Workers, and Concurrent Hires—directly into UCPath using a structured approval framework. Here are the key updates:
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Early adopters from Central Offices will begin using the new Manage Human Resources tile before it becomes available to all transactors.
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The Manage Human Resources tile features the following sub-tiles:
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Create Employee
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Create Contingent Worker
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Organizational Relationship
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Who will be impacted?
For now, if you currently have access to the Smart HR Templates, please continue to use them as usual until the pilot phase is complete. While you may see the Manage Human Resources Tile, you will not have the ability to use it.
Local leadership will determine the best timing to release the Direct Entry functionality to all transactors, with broader campus-wide changes expected to start rolling out in 2025.
Expanded Sick Leave & Reproductive Loss (Phase 2)
Impacted Module: Absence Management
Expected Release Date: July, 2025
California Senate Bill (SB) 616 expanded paid sick leave from 3 to 5 days for workers who complete 30 or more days of employment. To accommodate this legislation, this project will involve more employees in the timekeeping process, require new UCPath configurations, and changes to the campus timekeeping system, Kronos.
On December 11th, 2024 the UCSB project team hosted an informational session via webinar for the Reproductive Loss Leave and Sick Leave Expansion projects, which is scheduled to go live on January 1st, 2025.
Recording Link: RLL & ESL Presentation Presentation - 12/11/24
Slide Deck: RLL & ESL Presentation Deck - 12/11/24
UCPath Annual Upgrade
Impacted Module: All
Expected Release Date: July 2025
Yearly UCpath Upgrade for PUM, Tools and Mulesoft. Planned PeopleSoft upgrade path is PUM 49 and PS Tools 8.61.05.
Salary Cost Transfer (SCT) Phase 2
Impacted Module: Payroll
Expected Release Date: Release Date: Oct 2024, Feb 2025, May 2025, July 2025 and Sept 2025
The goal of this phase is to enhance the custom SCT solution to be more user-friendly and to complete the deferred requirements across restricted, unrestricted, work-study, and MCOP components from SCT Phase 1. This project will ultimately be released in 4 monthly sprints, beginning in October 2024 and ending in September 2025.
Project Announcements